The Humanities Center at the University of Pittsburgh will present a colloquium by Bryn Mawr College's
Nguyen Tan Hoang titled "Bottomhood is Powerful: Asian American Sexual Positionings" on November 1st, 12:30 to 2:00 pm in room 602 of the Cathedral of Learning. A short description accompanied
the announcement by the University of Southern California two weeks ago:
Advancing the concept of “gay Asian bottomhood,” the talk examines the ways that anal erotics and bottom positioning refract the meanings of race, gender, sexuality, and nationality in American culture. I suggest that bottomhood simultaneously enables and constrains Asian American men in moving-image media. Gay male video pornography and sex
cruising websites constitute case studies. The talk will be supplemented by a short video screening.
Pittsburgh's version will
feature responses by two faculty members as well as two short videos. Students, faculty, and staff in Humanities can access readings made available for the colloquium by visiting my.pitt.edu, clicking "My Resources," and choosing "Humanities Center". A brief excerpt from his manuscript abstract:
“A View from the Bottom: Asian American Masculinity and Sexual Representation” offers a new framework for oppositional politics through a reassessment of male effeminacy. Challenging the strategy of remasculinization employed by Asian American and gay male critics as a defense against feminization, the manuscript rewrites male effeminacy as socially and sexually enabling, thus refuting its characterization as a racially- and sexually-inflected injury.
Late notice, but the
Women's Studies Center will present a screening of Hoang's short films on October 30th from 6:30 to 8:00 pm in G-24 of the Cathedral of Learning
as part of the Kelly Strayhorn Theater's My People queer of color film series. Stay after the video for a video Q&A with the video artist Nguyen Tan Hoang.
